Motorola’s Moto 360 Android Wear Smartwatch: The Details You Want

The Moto 360 smartwatch will arrive this summer, with a choice of leather or metal bands.

Motorola

Look, I’ll admit it, the first images of Motorola’s 360 smartwatch released this morning made me downright giddy. The sleek metal design, the clean look of the Android Wear operating system on the circular screen, the chronograph-like button on the rounded right edge. This was it, the smartwatch to convince me that the thing I have been missing in life is a smartwatch.

Then, as I often do, I brought myself out of the love-at-first-sight gadget state and brought myself back to reality. “What if this was just a photoshopped mockup?” I asked myself as I scrolled through the 360’s website, full of beautiful photos and marketing puns like “It’s time a watch told you more than just the time.”

Know what it was time for? A chat with Lior Ron, Motorola’s VP of Product Management and Wearables Lead. What did I find out? That round electronics are harder to build than square ones, and that the company is considering a custom tool like the Moto X Moto Maker.

Here are edited excerpts from our chat:

So, is this a real working product right now?

It is a very real product. I am wearing it on my hand as we speak and have been using it for the last few weeks. It’s very, very real, I promise. I am touching it right now.

Is it really going to ship? Is there any reason to be worried about that given the Lenovo acquisition?

Yes, this is going to ship this summer. And we don’t foresee any issues with Lenovo.

The design actually mimics that of a watch! Crazy idea! How are you able to accomplish the circular screen?

The key for this category is fashion and creating something people want to wear. The key to the smartwatch is to start with the watch and realize that this is the watch most people like.

I believe more than 80 percent of watches today are round. It’s super comfortable to have something round, it provides ample space to see the time and other information.

It was a challenge to design. All the components have to be put in a round form factor so we used very unique materials and internals.

Can you say anything about the specs or the materials you are using?

We aren’t sharing yet the screen size or resolution, but we thought through the size very carefully. We ended up with a size that is very comfortable. We took a hard look at materials that will convey the sense of quality. We have used metals and we are going to have metal and leather straps available.

So pricing, are we looking at the price of a Fossil or a Cartier?

We are not ready to share pricing yet, but I feel comfortable telling you that it will be less than a Cartier.

In the photos on your website, you are just showing men wearing the 360. Are you creating separate male and female versions?

We designed it to appeal to as many folks as we can. I think it’s a matter of choice and taste—I think both men and women will like it. We believe in giving users choice and options, it’s part of our brand—you’ve seen what we have done with Moto X and Moto Maker. We believe in giving people choice and will stay true to that over time. For now, this is what we have to share.

So, one day I might be able to customize this watch?

I think along those lines. A lot of the product themes of the 360 are consistent with what we have done today—voice interaction, showing the right information at the right time, making something that is comfortable to use.